Not every victory should put a smile on your face; not every defeat is genuinely a bad thing.That’s probably the wisdom Arsenal and its fanbase should be aware of in the aftermath of the shocking UEFA Europa League exit following a penalty-shootout loss to Sporting Lisbon at the Emirates on Thursday night.Gunners are out of Europe after Ramsdale’s embarrassing goal and penalty shootoutAlbeit it seemed like another smooth road to victory for the Gunners midway through the game, the bizarre equalizer Aaron Ramsdale conceded in the second half triggered a totally different epilogue.Shades of Nayim in 1995 last night as Arsenal conceded an amazing goal by Pedro Goncalves of Sporting from nearly halfway!👏🏻🟩⬜️🇵🇹#nayim #flashbackfriday #pedrogonçalves #sportingcp pic.twitter.com/Q1wgSf79ER— MOTM Football (@motm_football) March 17, 2023 Should this serve as a warning sign for Mikel Arteta and his staff, as the Londoners were not only favourited to top Sporting but were given a significant chance of clinching the UEL title itself?”Huge blow,” Arsenal head coach said of the result afterwards. “We really wanted to go through and fight in the competition and go for it and today we tried for 120 mins and penalties and it wasn’t enough.”The disappointment is not going to go away. The disappointment is there now, but it brings clarity. There are 11 Premier League games to play and the next final is against Crystal Palace.”We have to recover and put all our energy and focus there, play better than today and put the same effort as today and win.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7108285####EDITORS_CHOICE##Arteta insisted he could not see the defeat as a blessing in disguise despite the fact it lightens their schedule for the remaining months of the Premier League campaign.”I cannot see it today that way,” he said. “We weren’t at our level.” 😤Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta gives his verdict on his side’s defeat on penalties to Sporting.#UEL pic.twitter.com/gXaTk5JV0R— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 16, 2023 “You go through the competition and win, it’s magnificent. If it’s not and it affects your plans in the league, it’s a different story.”But we wanted to go through and we put everything in. The effort the boys put in, when it wasn’t our best day, the hunger and the desire they showed to win, the way they were tacking back was incredible.”They really wanted it and today it didn’t happen. We need to put the head up and now look for Palace. It’s what it is. It’s 11 games and the first one starts on Sunday,” concluded Arteta.
